You could be opening yourself to shocking misinformation regarding tinnitus or other hearing issues without ever realizing it. The Hearing Journal has recently published research that backs this up. Tinnitus is surprisingly common. Out of every 5 Us citizens one struggles with tinnitus, so ensuring people have access to correct, trustworthy information is important. The web and social media, sadly, are full of this sort of misinformation according to a new study.
Finding Information Regarding Tinnitus on Social Media
You aren’t alone if you are looking for other people with tinnitus. Social media is a great place to find like minded people. But there is very little oversight focused on ensuring displayed information is correct. According to one study:
- 44% of public Facebook groups had misinformation
- 34% of Twitter accounts were classified as containing misinformation
- 30% of YouTube video results contained misinformation
For people diagnosed with tinnitus, this amount of misinformation can provide a difficult obstacle: Checking facts can be time-consuming and too much of the misinformation presented is, frankly, enticing. We want to believe it.
What Is Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is a common medical condition in which the person suffering hears a buzzing or ringing in one’s ears. If this buzzing or ringing persists for longer than six months, it is called chronic tinnitus.
Tinnitus And Hearing Loss, Common Misinformation
Many of these mistruths and myths, obviously, are not invented by the internet and social media. But they do make spreading misinformation easier. You need to go over concerns you have about your tinnitus with a trusted hearing specialist.
Debunking some examples might illustrate why this misinformation spreads and how it can be challenged:
- Hearing aids won’t help with tinnitus: Because tinnitus manifests as a certain kind of ringing or buzzing in the ears, lots of people assume that hearing aids won’t be helpful. But newer hearing aids have been designed that can help you effectively regulate your tinnitus symptoms.
- You will lose your hearing if you have tinnitus, and if you are deaf you already have tinnitus: The link between hearing loss and tinnitus is real but it’s not universal. Tinnitus can be triggered by certain diseases which leave overall hearing untouched.
- Your hearing can be improved by dietary changes: It’s true that your tinnitus can be aggravated by certain lifestyle changes (for many consuming anything that has caffeine can make it worse, for example). And there may be some foods that can temporarily diminish symptoms. But there is no diet or lifestyle change that will “cure” tinnitus for good.
- Tinnitus can be cured: The wishes of those who have tinnitus are exploited by the most common kinds of this misinformation. There isn’t a “miracle pill” cure for tinnitus. There are, however, treatment options that can assist in maintaining a high quality of life and effectively organize your symptoms.
- Loud noises are the only trigger of tinnitus: The specific causes of tinnitus are not really well understood or documented. It’s true that really severe or long term noise exposure can lead to tinnitus. But tinnitus can also be linked to other things such as genetics, traumatic brain injury, and other factors.
How to Find Accurate Facts Concerning Your Hearing Concerns
For both new tinnitus sufferers and those well accustomed to the symptoms it’s essential to stop the spread of misinformation. There are a few steps that people should take to attempt to protect themselves from misinformation:
- A hearing specialist or medical consultant should be consulted. If you’ve tried everything else, run the information that you found by a trusted hearing professional (if possible one acquainted with your situation) to see if there is any validity to the claims.
- Look for sources: Try to find out what the sources of information are. Was the information written by or sourced from hearing specialists or medical experts? Is this information documented by dependable sources?
- If the information seems hard to believe, it probably isn’t true. You probably have a case of misinformation if a website or media post claims to have a miracle cure.
The astrophysicist Carl Sagan once said something both simple and profound: “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.” Sharp critical thinking techniques are your best defense against alarming misinformation concerning tinnitus and other hearing issues at least until social media platforms more rigorously separate information from misinformation
If you have read some information that you are not certain of, set up an appointment with a hearing care professional.
